AS Saints’ season continues to look rather abysmal under Ivan Juric, I thought I’d turn it into something a little more light-hearted by asking ChatGPT to predict how Juric’s reign will play out and who will be the next four managers to sit upon the Southampton FC throne.
Firstly though, to help you understand where ChatGPT got all their ideas from, here is everything I asked of it:
- How long Juric and the next four managers will be in the job for, including the years they are appointed and dismissed.
- Which position they finished each season of their reign, and in what league.
- In what manner they departed the club.
- The team’s best player across the years in charge.
- And finally, the managers’ most memorable moment whilst in charge of the mighty Saints.
So, with that out of the way, here is what ChatGPT made of the current manager’s future in charge of the club…
Ivan Juric was predicted by A.I. to last two years as Southampton manager since replacing Russel Martin in December of 2024.
At the end of his first season in charge (I.E. the end of this season), Juric’s Saints finished 18th in the Premier League, relegated to the Championship. Juric’s second, and ultimately final season in charge, the 2025/26 season, saw Saints make the Championship playoffs after finishing fourth in the league, only for them to lose in the Play-Off Final.
Their best player over Juric’s tenure, perhaps to the surprise of current Saints fans, was Kamaldeen Sulemana, with ChatGPT predicting him to be the Championship’s top goal-scorer in the 25/26 season, something he’s yet to show fans he’s capable of.
What was Juric’s most memorable moment while in charge? Well, to continue the dismay Saints fans have for the Serbian, A.I predicted his most memorable moment is a bust-up with a referee after a controversial decision against Ipswich. Glad to see even ChatGPT can acknowledge the incompetence of English referees.
When asked about said Play-Off final, ChatGPT said that Saints were to lose 2-1 at Wembley to fellow red and white striped side Sheffield United in extra time. The loss, and failure to return to the Premier League, saw Juric sacked by the board, but who was to be his replacement?…
The board went with current Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl, who has vital Championship experience both as a player and a manager.
ChatGPT predicted he would last three years in the job between 2026 and 2029.
In the 2026 season, still in the Championship thanks to Juric’s ineptitude, Saints fans finally have something to smile about, as a second-place finish sees them automatically promoted back to the Premier League in his first season in charge.
And the good times keep on rolling, or should I say ‘Rohling’, in the future, as in their first season back in the Premier League, now in the 2027/28 season, they finish 12th place and well above the drop zone.
The following season, however, is a return to present day normality for Saints fans, as a 16th place finish in the top flight and a poor run of form to end the season sees Danny Rohl’s time in the south coast come to an end.
Danny Rohl worked his transfer magic during his time in the hot seat, as the best player under the German was Turkish midfielder Arda Guler, on loan from Real Madrid. GPT says that his dribbling and set-piece ability made him a fan-favourite. I’m not sure many would swap sunny Madrid for Southampton, but it clearly worked out for both parties on this occasion.
Rohl’s unforgettable moment as Saints gaffer was an interesting one, and perhaps relates more to his man-management as opposed to his tactics, as, after introducing brand-new ‘sleep pods’ to the training ground, players wouldn’t oversleep and miss training as one might expect, but instead use them to hide in, in an attempt to avoid rigorous fitness training.
Now five years into the future, in 2029, the Saints manager merry-go-round hasn’t stopped spinning, as they appoint Spaniard Carlos Corberan to be Rohl’s successor.
The current Valencia manager manages to keep his side in the Premier League comfortably, finishing 14th in his first season in charge.
In his next season, however, it was all doom and gloom as a 19th place finish saw them relegated once again. As a result, Corberan’s short reign was over as he resigned over a disagreement with the higher-ups.
The best player under Corberan? None other than Manchester United and Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund, who joined Saints in a shock move after struggling at United for, apparently, six seasons. At Saints, however, ChatGPT says he flourished before the side’s relegation.
It would be Corberan’s fashion choices that A.I would choose to be his most memorable moment, as the Spaniard made all his coaching staff wear matching suits on the touchline, leading to players and fans labelling them as the, wait for it, ‘The Southampton Mafia’. Hard to be taken seriously when the supposed ‘Mafia’ are the ones to get you relegated though, much to the despair of Corberan.
But who would be the man to get them back to where they belong?
In a return to management after poor spells as Aston Villa and Al Ettifaq boss, the Southampton board appointed Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in the hopes of returning to the promised land.
However, for Gerrard and his Saints side, it was a very rocky start to life in the Championship, as in the 2031/32 season, Gerrard could only guide them to a mediocre 10th place.
Even with the disappointment, the board are, evidently, feeling rather more lenient in the 2030s as they decide to keep Gerrard in the job, despite landing them their worst season since the 2007/08 season in which they finished seventh in League One.
The next season for Stevie G wasn’t much of an improvement, as they finished eighth in England’s second tier, and in his third season, whilst he improves to third place in the Championship, earning them a spot in the Play-Offs, they lose in the final.
Finally, however, in Gerrard’s fourth season in charge, in the year 2034, he guides them to 1st place, winning the Championship and earning them promotion.
That’s where it ended for Gerrard, however, as ChatGPT sited a disagreement with the board and their transfer policy, as the reason Gerrard left the club.
Gerrard’s best player in his tenure was academy graduate and young superstar Tyler Dibling, who has stayed in Southampton, and in this A.I. timeline is now 29 years old and in the prime years of his career. Hopefully now he can strut his stuff on the biggest stage, now they’re back in the Premier League.
Gerrard’s most memorable moment according to ChatGPT is perhaps the craziest of the bunch. The Liverpudlian introduced a ‘dock walk’ after each home game, in which, as the name suggests, the players and staff would take a leisurely stroll along the docks and reflect on the goings on of the game. However, these dock walks became infamous for the wrong reasons, as during one post-match walk, a player fell into the water.
When I asked which player it was, I was presented with a list of former Saints players including Theo Walcott, Mohammed Salisu, James Ward-Prowse and Sekou Mara, highlighting how ChatGPT and A.I technology isn’t perfect, to the dismay of university students nationwide.
So, in the final years of this experiment, and now back in the Premier League, can this manager take Saints to the top of English football? Or will he follow in the footsteps of those before him and cement Southampton as the latest ‘yo-yo club’?
The board elected former Brighton and Chelsea, and current West Ham manager Graham Potter, who between 1996 and 1997 made eight league appearances for Southampton.
He was in charge for a total of three years, but these are perhaps the best three years in the ChatGPT universe.
In his first season, ChatGPT said that they would finish in a respectable 11th place in the Premier League, improving to eighth place in the following season.
In his third and final season in charge, however, Saints fans would be cheering Potter’s name, as a sixth-place league finish saw Southampton qualify for the Europa League for the first time since 2016-2017, now 20 years ago in the A.I. universe.
But which player was the one to lead his side to European qualification? Well, I think ChatGPT could very well be a Real Madrid fan, as in a shock move for his career, none other than Jude Bellingham makes a return to English football at the ripe old age of 33, captaining the side in what was their highest finish in the 13 years of this experiment.
What else was Potter known for as Saints Manager? Well, he rather sensibly brought in a sports psychologist to help the players ahead of matches, this sports psychologist introduced a social media ban on matchdays, leading to a player revolt as they lost their TikTok sponsorship, just as you thought the madness was over from ChatGPT.
Potter departed Saints after he was offered the England job, after his success on the south coast.
So, according to ChatGPT; Southampton will get relegated this season under Juric, and then just once more in the next 13 years; they will form a bond with Real Madrid and knab their best players whilst still playing in the Championship; sack some managers for failing to get promoted to the Premier League, but keep others in the job for doing the same and make some questionable behind-the-scenes decisions.
Hopefully for Saints fans they won’t have to wait that long for European qualification, or have any players fall in the docks any time soon.
Here is what ChatGPT had to say about the experiment, what the choices were based on and how not to entrust it with actual work for your uni degree or proper job:
